Page 11 of Desirous

“I’m sorry. You must be so let down. That Deidre is one piece of work.”

She’s not wrong there. I’m sure I’ll see just how bad she is in a few hours when I return to the kitchen.

“Please don’t tell Daddy, okay?” I say as I jump off the barstool to get a drink from the refrigerator.

“Oh, I won’t. He never liked the idea of you being on a reality show to begin with.”

Great. So now he’ll see me as a failure at something he didn’t he approve of.

“Okay. Thanks, Mom.”

As I chug a mouthful of water, my mother says, “I also called for a second reason. Your father and I will be coming to see you in two days. He thought we should surprise you, but I put the kibosh to that. No young woman living on her own wants her parents to just drop in unexpectedly. Sometimes I swear that man was never young.”

I nearly choke on the mixture of crackers and water at her news, sputtering pieces of food all over the refrigerator door. They’re coming here? In two days? Whatever for?

Oh, more greatness. Now I get to enjoy my father’s disapproval up close and in person. Super.

“That’s great, Mom. What brings you to sunny Florida?” I ask, wishing I could ask how long they plan to stay.

I love my parents, and if it was only my mother coming, I wouldn’t feel so utterly stressed out right now. But my father is another story. Every time we get together, I end up feeling like a complete and utter loser by the time he leaves.

“Oh! You know what we should do?” she says, avoiding the reason why they’re coming to visit. “We should make reservations at that restaurant the three of us went to that one time. CK, was it?”

Can this get any worse?

“I’m not sure, Mom. I’m thinking Deidre is going to have me working every day until the end of time to make up for that week I wasn’t in the kitchen.”

“She can’t schedule you for every hour of every day we’re there, Katerina. I’ll make the reservation today. I’ll be sure to make it for a time you usually aren’t at work. I wonder if they do lunch.”

“To be honest, Mom, I think that restaurant closed,” I say, lying through my teeth.

“What? CK? I can’t believe that. They’re the best restaurant in that area. No offense to yours, honey. Things just are what they are.”

I can’t help but chuckle at how kind she is about my feelings. I know where I work is not the best in town. I’m not even sure it’s in the top fifty restaurants in the Tampa area.

“Sure, I know, but I heard something bad happened to their head chef.”

Talk about wishful thinking.

“Oh, really? What happened?” she asks in a tone of genuine concern.

Smiling, I answer, “I heard he was mauled to death in a horrible alligator attack.”

My mother gasps as I think to myself that a girl can dream. “Oh, that’s terrible! I worry so much about you down there, honey. Those things can move very fast. I saw a show on the nature channel one night when I couldn’t get to sleep, and I didn’t have anything to help me. That creature was just sunning himself on a rock one minute and the next, bam! He got those fat little legs of his moving, and he scurried across a road to attack a man! Thank God he was able to get away fast enough because if he didn’t, he would have been that alligator’s lunch. I hope you’re careful when you go out.”

Every time my mother talks about things like that, I imagine her sitting in her beautiful home in Scarsdale right outside of New York City biting her nails down to the quick because she’s convinced herself the entire state of Florida is literally crawling with swarms of alligators. I have never seen one in all the time I’ve lived here, but I doubt she’d believe that.

“It’s okay, Mom. I always keep myself safe here. Sadie and I live on the fifth floor, and I don’t think alligators climb up this high.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, she says sweetly, “Good. I worry about you, Katerina.”

“I’m fine, Mom. I can’t wait to see you and Daddy. What time will you get here on Wednesday?”

Only two thirds of that is a lie. I can’t wait to see her.

“We’re taking an early flight out of JFK, so expect us before lunch. You know how your father is about airplane food, so we’ll be looking for somewhere to eat as soon as we arrive.”

“Okay, Mom. I’ll be here, unless I’m at work. Just call me when you land. I love you.”

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